Miles Away
by renonoelle
Summary: Puck witnesses a car accident involving Rachel. How do both parties react?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't own anything…otherwise we'd have so much more Puckleberry!

This is post-sectionals.

* * *

It was a rainy day, and normally Rachel wouldn't be driving, but her Dads were out of town at a conference, so she was forced to drive to school. Rachel was already a nervous driver--performing she could handle, manoeuvring a two ton vehicle in the rain however, renders her completely terrified--and it was a particularly windy day. Rachel didn't see the SUV coming, she just suddenly felt a push, crunch, and suddenly, everything was black.

* * *

Puck was talking on the phone, _yeah yeah, it's illegal now, but I'm a badass, I could drive with my eyes closed if I had to_, so he only got a peripheral view of the accident. He heard the unpleasant crunch, the horns honking, the cars screeching, and dropped the phone. _Oh shit…I didn't hit anything, did I? No, no, oh thank god, Mom would kill me if I had._ Puck suddenly looked towards the right, and saw it. _Don't Rachel's Dads own a blue Prius? _His eyes widened suddenly, _Nah, can't be. Other people is this stupid cow town own them…but I've never see another one on the road at this time_.

Puck pulled over onto the shoulder, hopped out of his truck and jogged over to the two cars. Immediately he noticed that neither driver was moving, and the Prius was in pretty bad shape, the entire driver's side was crushed in. Puck, phone still in hand, called 911.

"911, please state your emergency"

"Ummm…hi. I just witnessed a car crash, and it looks bad," Puck said, the slight panic beginning to settle in.

"Alright sir, where are you located at the moment?"

"The corner of Third Street and Elm. Should I try and get them out of the car?" Puck questioned, trying to discern if it was in fact Rachel in the Prius.

"No, do not touch the victims. An ambulance should be on the scene momentarily," the operator said in a calm voice.

Heeding the operator's warning, Puck slowly inched towards the Prius, and suddenly saw a familiar flop of brown hair. _Oh god. It's Rachel. And there's blood, and holy shit! she's not talking, or even awake! This is bad…really bad. _

"Oh crap! Th-here almost here right? I just realised that my frie-Berry is in the car. She's not talking, and she's _always_ talking, like never shuts up, and now she's not talking and there's blood and …" Puck rambled.

"Sir, calm down. They will be there momentarily, I reiterate, do not touch the victims."

"I-I, I won't. Oh thank god, I hear the ambulance now. I'm gonna go. Thanks," Puck said, unsure of how to address the operator. He closed his phone, and just stood there, rain pouring down, waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

* * *

"You haven't done anything right? You haven't touched anything, moved anything?" the paramedic asked Puck.

"No, but you've got to get here out of there, I mean, she's still alive isn't she?" Puck stated, his panic now coming back full-force.

"Look, we've got to get both drivers out of the cars, into ambulances before we can begin to process anything. Just stay calm. You said you know the girl? What's her name?" one of the paramedics questioned.

"Berry, err, Rachel. Rachel Berry."

Puck stood by, watching as the other paramedics began to get both Rachel and the other driver, who Puck suddenly had an urge to hurt, out of their respective cars.

There was blood, lots of it, and neither person was awake. _Shit, isn't her arm supposed to be at a different angle? Oh god, she better be okay. _

"Hey you, kid! You say you know her, this Berry girl? You wanna ride with her to the hospital?"

Puck was unsure of how to respond. He wasn't even really friends with her. _Come on dude. You totally know that if the situation were reversed she'd hop in that ambulance no problem. Hell, she'd have probably demanded to be let in regardless. _The thought made Puck smile slightly.

"Yeah, I do."

* * *

A/N: So…I really have no idea. This kinda just came to me in the shower. Hopefully it's not to horrible.

Please review! I'm not really a writer, so I'd love feedback.

Next chapter should be up soon, fan fiction is the perfect way to procrastinate!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: OMG people actually read my story! Such a great high! Thanks so much!

I don't own anything. I just like to borrow the characters and play for a bit.

* * *

The first thing that Puck realised when he got into the ambulance was that Rachel was still out cold. People were talking, machines were beeping, the ambulance had the siren blaring, yet all Puck could hear was the silence that was emanating from Rachel Berry's prone form.

She had a huge gash on her head, that was still gushing blood, her arm was still twisted at a funny angle, and she appeared to have bruises beginning to cover the entire left side of her body. _Shit, she looks like hell. No duh! she just got hit by another car you idiot!_ Puck was still slightly unsure why he was actually in the ambulance, but he just couldn't leave her alone.

"She's gonna be okay…right? I mean, her arm's totalled, and she kinda looks like she's gonna turn purple in the morning, but besides that gash on her head--which..it's gonna be fine right…cause holy shit that's a lot of blood--she'll be f-fine, right?" Puck asked. He couldn't believe that he had just stuttered, but come on, badasses don't ramble!

"Well, physically she should be fine. But we can't rule out any psychological issues yet. She's going to need to have a CT to make sure that she has no bleeding in her brain."

Puck sat in silence yet again. _Bleeding in your brain can't be good_. Before he knew it, the ambulance had arrived at the hospital, and Rachel was being whisked in the emergency room, and he was being told to sit in the reception area, and that someone would be with him shortly.

Puck finally realised that he should call someone, anyone, because he couldn't just wait here alone. _Her dads, idiot. You should call her dads. _ Puck pulled out his phone, scrolled down to "Berry-home" and hit send.

"Hello, you have reached the Berry household. We are currently unavailable, and will be out of reach until next Monday. If this call is urgent please call our cell phones as listed below…" One of Rachel's Dads' voices spoke. Puck typed in one of her Dads' cell numbers and once again hit send.

"Leroy Berry here."

"Uhh, hi Mr. Berry. This is Noah Puckerman, I'm a friend of Rachel's. Ummm…Rachel's been in an accident, " Puck began, unsure of how to tell Mr. Berry the news.

"What, what? Uh, I don't understand. What happened, is she okay, where are you, is she awake, can I talk to her? Where's her doctor, what happened?" Leroy Berry questioned, getting more and more frantic as his questions continued.

"She was in a car accident, um, we're at the hospital, Lima General, uh, um, last time I saw here she was still out, and the paramedics said she'd need a CT. I think you should call reception, they should be able to give you more information, I don't know anything else. I'm sorry," Puck said, feeling worse and worse as he continued. He hated having to talk to parents, especially Dads, and this, this is not something that Puck is equipped to deal with.

"Okay, Puckerman you said? Thank you for alerting me. Bye."

As Mr. Berry hung up, Puck sat down, suddenly feeling like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. _I am so not the person to be dealing with this._ _Maybe I should call Mr. Shue._ Before the thought was even finished Puck was hitting send on his phone, dialling Mr. Shue, hoping that he would be more capable of handling the situation that he was.

* * *

"Puck!"

Puck turned around as he heard his named called, and was relieved to see a very worried Mr. Shue.

"Is she okay? Is she awake yet, what's going on?" Mr. Shue asked, looking worse for the wear. _They don't really equip you to deal with this when you're getting your teaching degree._

"I don't know, uh, no, and I have no idea," Puck replied. "I called her Dad, and told him, so I assume that he's gonna be coming soon. He got kinda curt towards the end of my telling him."

"Alright, I'm going to go and see if I can get us some more information. Puck," Mr. Shue stated, looking at Puck over his shoulder, "You did the right thing by calling me, and calling her Dad."

Once again, Puck sat down, this time a little calmer. _Thank god Shue is here, I was really starting to lose it. I don't even know why I care, I don't even like Berry, but no one should be in the hospital alone, even someone as annoying as her._

Mr. Shue returned and told Puck that Rachel was getting a CT. She has still yet to wake up, but they had set her arm, and cleaned the rest of her abrasions. All they could do now was sit and wait for her to get back from her CT and wait for her to wake up.

* * *

While waiting, Puck decided that he should probably let the rest of Glee know about Rachel's accident. Tired of talking--he'd done more today than he was used to--he decided that by texting Kurt he would effectively be texting the entirety of Glee anyways. _That stupid Glee phone tree, well, hey, it's working in my favor now. _

**Puck: Hey Beyonce. At hospital with Berry. Bad car accident. Already called Dads and Shue. Update rest of Glee 4 me? Thx**

Puck barely had to wait a minute before he got a reply.

**Kurt: OMG! Is she OK? Phone tree activated, every1 will kno soon. Keep me updated!**

Soon enough, the rest of Glee was texting him, with various responses.

**Finn: Kurt txtd. Rach OK? Should I come to hospital?**

**Tina: Tell Rach Artie and I hope she's OK!**

**Mercedes: What happened?! Is our local diva gonna be OK? **

**Mike: Tell Rach Matt and I hope she feels better! **

**Quinn: She's OK right? Every1 is freaking out. We'll all be over after school. **

Puck was slightly shocked at the response he got, he didn't really expect the rest of Glee to care that much. He spent the next ten minutes replying to various texts, answering the same questions again and again. _God this is annoying. But at least it's something to do._

Next thing Puck knew, the nurse was coming out and saying that he and Mr. Shue could go and see Rachel. She still wasn't awake yet, but was expected to wake up anytime.

* * *

As he and Mr. Shue walked into her room, the only thing that Puck noticed was the quiet. Again. _It's just unnaturally weird for there to be this much quiet when Berry is in the room_.

Her bruises were more apparent now. Her arm was in in cast and the gash on her head was covered with gauze. The beeping from the machine beside her was driving him slowly crazy. Beep. Beep. Beep. Repeating and repeating. _Come on Berry, wake up. Anything is better than this beeping, even your annoying chatter._

He'd been sitting in her room for next to an hour before she started doing anything. _Finally! She's waking up! _

Rachel's eyes began to flutter, and suddenly opened.

* * *

A/N: Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Still don't own anything.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing and alerting. It means a lot to me!

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep. _What is the incessant beeping? And why am I so sore? _Rachel slowly opened her eyes, _okay, come on, opening your eyes shouldn't hurt this much._ Rapidly blinking, Rachel realised that she didn't know where she was. Beginning to panic, she tried to sit up, only to realise that moving hurt. A lot.

"Ber-Rachel, are you awake?" Rachel heard from her right. Slowly turning her head, she was shocked to find Puck sitting there, looking both relieved and worried at the same time.

"Noah? What, where, why, huh? What's going on? Why does it feel like my head is filled with cotton balls?" Rachel questioned slowly, _come on, speaking hurts too?_

"Oh thank fuck you know who I am. I was so not wanting to deal with an amnesiac Rachel. You're in the hospital, you were in a car accident. You've got a broken arm, a shit load of bruises--it kinda looks like a purple slushy got poured into your skin--and your head hurts because you must have it it really fucking hard, you had to get a CT and everything," Puck stated, grinning slightly at the joke he made.

"An accident? How? The last thing I remember is dreading…oh. Oh no, please don't tell me that I hit a pole? or oh, god, no. I didn't hit a person did I? Or a dog? Oh, geez, the car hydroplaned didn't it. I bet I went into a ditch. My Dads are going to be so mad!" Rachel started freaking out.

Puck, trying unsuccessfully to interrupt Rachel to tell her that "No, you didn't cause the accident, some idiot did" eventually put his hand over Rachel's mouth, just to shut her up.

"God, just shut it okay? I can't tell you what happened if you don't let me, now can I?" Puck spewed, his hand still covering Rachel's mouth. She silently looked up at him, wincing slightly because his hand was hitting one of the many bruises surrounding her body.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her voice barely reaching Puck's ears, for she had both barely spoken, and his hand had effectively trapped the rest of the sound.

Puck removed his hand. "See, not that hard to be quiet now is it?" Grinning slightly, Puck proceeded to sit back down. "You didn't do anything wrong. Some idiot hit your side of the car. I don't think your Dads are mad, just worried. I called one of your Dads and he just seemed to be in shock, he sounded worried. I'm sure they'll be here soon to dote and freak out and make sure that you're in perfect--well, you know--condition."

"Oh. Good. Well, I mean, not good obviously, but well. You know."

* * *

Rachel suddenly sprang up, "ow!" and instantly back down. "Ow, that really hurts. Ummm, Noah?" Rachel was suddenly looking up at him, unsure of how he'd react. "Could you, well, I mean, I really have to use the facilities."

"The what?" Puck smirked. He knew she was trying to say that she needed use the bathroom, but he couldn't resist getting a dig or two in. _It's Berry, I've got to. It's like, my civic duty to mess with her. _

"The restroom, Noah! I need to pee!" Rachel huffed, clearly agitated that Puck was making her spell it out for him.

Still smirking, Puck helped Rachel into the bathroom. "Now, are you gonna be okay in here, you do you still require help?" Puck said, barely able to contain the laughter that was bubbling up inside him.

"No, I'm fine now thanks. Are you done antagonising me? I really do need to pee."

As Puck walked out of the bathroom, he quietly stood against the wall outside door, figuring she'd need help getting back to the bed, no matter what she said. _That was interesting. Berry asking for help. I would have thought that she'd've wheezed and huffed all the way to the restroom instead. _

Puck heard the toilet flush, the water running, and the door open. He stood there expectantly, and grinned as Rachel huffed, but still grabbed onto his proffered arm. "Thank you Noah," she said quietly.

Just as Rachel was getting situated onto the bed, Mr. Shue came walking in.

"Oh good! Rachel, you're awake! I was so worried!" Mr. Shue said, hurrying in. "So, I've just talked to you father, and he said that neither him nor your father will be able to make it home for a few days. They are glad that you're alright, and will be calling you shortly. I also spoke to the nurse, who said that you should be able to go home in a few hours, your CT looked fine, and they'll be giving a large prescription of painkillers to help with your arm and your head."

While listening to Mr. Shue inform Rachel of everything, Puck decided he should probably text the rest of Glee, he didn't want to deal with them all at the hospital.

**Puck: Rach is OK. Banged up, but good otherwise. Going home soon, don't come 2 hospital. **

Almost instantly, he received texts back.

**Kurt: Good! Tell Rach to feel better! **

**Tina: I'm glad. Ask her if she needs anything.**

**Finn: Thank God! I was so worried. Tell her I'll call her l8r. **

"Hey Berry, Kurt says to feel better, Tina wants to know if you need anything, and Finn says he'll call you later. Wanna reply?" Puck read out.

"Just tell everything thanks for worrying." Rachel replied, starting to feel the ache in her body, and the weariness falling over her. "I think I'm going to take a nap, my head still hurts a lot."

"Okay, I'll be here, you know, chillin. Nice excuse to not have to go to class," Puck said, texting everyone in Glee Rachel's message.

"I'm so glad that I can aid in your skipping class," Rachel replied with a wry smile, and a roll of her eyes. "Ow! Remind me not to roll my eyes, it hurts. A lot."

* * *

Ten minutes later, and Rachel was still fidgeting.

"Geez Berry, did you forget how to sleep or something?" Puck said, slightly irritated.

"Kind of. You know how you have that one position that you fall asleep in, and unless you're in that position you can't fall asleep?" Rachel questioned, moving to sit up. "Well, I seem to have lost that position. I can't remember how I fall asleep."

"Oh. That sucks," Puck replied. "Maybe it's just because you've got a cast on, so you limited in your range of motion. Or because you've got bruises the size of Texas all over?"

"I've tried everything," Rachel told him. "Nothing feels similar, everything is just wrong." At this point, from both exhaustion, pain, pain medication, and everything else, Rachel began to tear up. "I feel like I'm just missing something."

"No, no, no. Do no cry. I do not do crying girls. Especially crying crazy girls like you Berry."

Thankfully instead of taking his remark seriously, Rachel giggled slightly.

"Sorry. I don't even know why you're here, but I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth," Rachel said, looking at Puck apologetically.

"Did you just call me a horse Berry?" Puck asked incredulously. "Really a horse. Come on, I'm a badass stud, not a fucking horse."

"It's an idiom, Noah. You should take it as a compliment."

"Now you just called me an idiot. I am not an idiot, I'm a stud!" Puck said, getting more annoyed.

"Idiom, Noah, not idiot. It's like a metaphor, and please, stop talking so loudly, my head still hurts," Rachel said, getting exasperated at the poor staring at her.

"Oh. It's good though right? I mean, I am a stud." Puck said, slowly realising that Rachel did not in fact insult him. "Sorry about your head."

"It's not your fault, I'm assuming your not the 'idiot' who hit me. Although, that would give me some clue as to why you are still here," Rachel said.

"How, what, I mean. I never, I'm a great driver," Puck finally managed to get out. _She thinks I'm the person that hit her. I'm not really that much of an asshole am I?_ "I didn't hit you. I just saw it. And called 911, and came in the ambulance with you."

"Oh. Sorry then. Why are you here then?" Rachel questioned. _He doesn't even like me. We're not friends, at least, I don't think we are._

"I just couldn't leave you alone here. I would hate to wake up in a hospital alone."

"Yeah, that would have really been unpleasant. Thank you Noah."

The silence enveloped them then, neither quite sure what to say.

* * *

A/N: Review? Thanks again for reading. I might not have an update for a few days. I really do have to write a paper, but this is just so much more fun!


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